The Australian Open draw ceremony took place on Thursday evening in Melbourne, where the season’s first Grand Slam begins on Monday. A balanced bracket was revealed, although it notably features Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the same half.
Federer is bidding for a third consecutive Aussie Open title, which would mark No. 100 overall in his illustrious career. After triumphing last fall in Basel, the 37-year-old Swiss had chances to reach the century mark at the Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals. However, he fell to Novak Djokovic in a third-set tiebreaker in Paris and was upset by Alexander Zverev in London–both in semifinals.
“Ninety-nine is already an incredible number,” Federer said during the draw ceremony. “I’m so close; I’ll give it a go. Every tournament I go to people might talk about it. Again, I’m not trying to look too far ahead; but if I made 100 at the Australian I’d take it. I’d gladly accept it, and I’ll give it all I have.”
The world No. 3 should coast into the second week before things start getting tricky. He could run into Stefanos Tsitsipas during fourth-round action prior to a possible rematch of last year’s final against Marin Cilic in the quarters. Andy Murray is unseeded in Federer’s section of the draw and the injury-plagued Scot has to face Doha champion Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round.
Nadal is on a collision course for the third round with Australian up-and-comer Alex de Minaur, while that quarter of the bracket also features two-time major runner-up Kevin Anderson and fellow big server John Isner.
Novak Djokovic will likely roll through the top half as a heavy favorite to capture his seventh Aussie Open title, but the story on that side is one especially intriguing quartet. The tournament’s most intriguing first-rounder pits Nick Kyrgios against Milos Raonic, with the winner of that showdown to meet the winner of Stan Wawrinka vs. Ernests Gulbis.
“Nick’s the most dangerous floater by far as he’s beaten all the top guys,” analyst Darren Cahill said on Thursday. “He’s coming into his home Grand Slam fresh, hungry, and no one will want to play him.”
Full men’s singles draw on the Australian Open website
[polldaddy poll=10210357]
Leave a Reply